Topps 1954 Gray Backs
The first 50 cards do exist in gray back and are quite distinctive from the white/cream stock backs of the regular cards. I only have one of them as an example for my 54 set, # 30 Mathews. The Standard catalog description mentions the possibility of a Canadian origin for the gray backs, which exist for the first 50 cards of the 54 set. ( same as with cards 131-190 of the 52 set). But I think the Canadian origin is now questioned by a lot ( most ?) people, particularly for the 52s.
The 52 are really hard to find, and the 54s pretty hard to run down, in part because if a seller does not know what he has, you rarely see the backs in on line scans. But even in shows they are tough to find. I have settled on examples of both for my sets
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